Even the comedies are black this awards season

November 09, 2007 A bleak, even nihilistic, worldview pervades many of the movies contending for the 80th Academy Awards, a direct reflection of the social and political turmoil roiling the United States. A lot of filmmakers are gravitating toward a dark world these days because we are in a state of gravity in our lives, says Craig Zadan, who, along with Neil Meron, produced one of the few upbeat awards season contenders in New Line's musical Hairspray. The war and everything connected to it has put everybody in a very sober mood, and in talking to filmmakers, I see that everybody is leaning toward being very serious.

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